I realize this is a "gathering site" however its the only one oriented to us Canadians and the issue of bringing up parts given rip off Canadian prices is always a timely one. Kevin can you make this a sticky?

This is what I do and I only pay GST on the imported item (no duty or taxes). 1) Only deal with vendors who will ship USPS (United States Postal Service) surface or air mail. Unfortunately this involves a trip by them to the post office. Companies like Summit / Jegs or any of the other larger companys don't want to do this because they like the UPS / Fed Ex etc courier truck to come to their back door for package pickup. Going to the post office is a bit of a hassle for the high volume guys. Courier companys charge fee upon fee when the item gets to Canada (brokerage/duty/taxes/processing/bonding/management fees........on it goes....all of us Canadian enthusiasts have experienced this - its unbelievable how much $ this adds to the purchase price. 2) Tell the vendor to make sure they place on the customs declaration that these are "Auto Parts" ...... Under free trade and the auto manufacturing tax treatys that are in place (Ontario) all the Canadian Gov't will charge you is GST on the Canadian $ value of the item plus a $5.00 processing fee. If the declaration says moulding or carpet you are screwed so again make sure it says "Auto Parts".

I have shipped up tons of parts this way ......try it, it works and you save big Vs ripoff Canadian vendors. Most of my purchases are via Ebay (Mikes Montes for example) or this board where the vendor is normally more sympathetic to going to the post office. Ask them however before bidding/ordering.

Another point....from my experience USPS accepts some fairly large/heavy packages compared to Canada Post. I have had cylinder heads and stroker crankshafts as well as a driveshaft from a Grand National mailed. The posty for my neighborhood hates me but I can live with it.

Great post Don - I have saved tons over the years since you gave me these tips long ago.

Paul's made this a sticky for us Canucks

After my first experience shopping cross border, I swore I would never buy anything stateside again - I was sent a bill after the fact (about a month later) for more than the original product and shipping total combined in additional fees from UPS. I refused to pay it due to the fact they do not give any forewarning whatsoever of these fees (nor will they tell you ahead of time what they are - so it is a complete shot in the dark and the fees are all over the map), and they agreed to drop it as a goodwill gesture since I was a first (and last) time customer. I've had one seller on ebay mistakenly use them since, and they now require COD before you get your product - which they will hold ransom until you pay. In that case I ended up spending $30 extra to ship a radio faceplate on top of the $5 I paid for it and the initial $6 shipping charge. This can be very frustrating at times. That is $36 total shipping on a weightless, tiny and nearly worthless item. Pure insanity what UPS and FedEx pull on cross border shipping

can someone in teh states bring a truckload up? Like me...i can play fetch and deliver, is that cool or will I get questioned at the border?

You can, but you would have to pay duty - depending on what you have, they may let you get away with it (not worth their time to fill out the paperwork). If they do make you pay duty, you will be there a while no matter what. You can lie and say you don't have anything, but if they are suspicous they will pull you over and if you have stuff they will not be happy. It will be a long day, and I think they end up charging you more - not sure if fines could get involved or not. With the border, you are best to be honest about what you have and take your chances on them being nice and saying "go ahead". Also, for Canadians who are coming back, you are allowed a certain dollar figure worth of stuff depending on how long you were over - I don't know the specifics off the top of my head though.

Another thing you can do is have the package marked off on the shipping slip as "gift" then you won't pay anything - but this is technically lying obviously and while not likely that you would get caught, it could bring some trouble if you do. The above mentioned tips are completely legit and there is nothing to worry about. The biggest problem as mentioned is a lot of vendors simply will not use USPS - in which case you shouldn't buy from them (unless you have money to waste).

With the exchange rate less painfull than it has been in many years..... now is the time to look at bringing up some rust free cars from the southern belt. In April of this year I bought a 50,000 mile 96 Impala SS from Nevada and drove it back to Edmonton in 24 hrs. Paid $10,000 U.S = $11,600 CDN + $800 GST + $200 RIV fee. Riv is the Gov't dept that handles imported vehicles. Drove all the way without a plate (had a Nevada 14 day temporary sticker on the window). Set the cruise at 80MPH and cars would pull over to the right lane because they thought I was a cop?? (Black Car....lots of fun)

The border issues are easy if you do your homework.(By homework I mean there are multiple conciderations to research - don't just show up at the border with a car because you could be in for a nasty surprise) The Border officers at Sweetgrass Montana told me that they were seeing 40-60 Canadians a day bringing Cars back. Years ago it was the other way around - Americans were buying our cheap Iron given their strong dollar. The car came with a trunk load of uninstalled speed parts and while I declared them they didn't even open the trunk. (Must have been my 65 year old father traveling with me) When I got home I had to install daytime running lights using the GM kit available at the dealer and show the RIV inspector (Canadian Tire if you can believe has been contracted by the feds to do all inspections - fees included in the above $200 RIV charge) I also had to show the inspector that I had the bolt thats used in the rear package tray to support the rear strap of of a baby seat. Found one in the wrecking yard out of a Toyota and threw it out after the inspection. (They only want to see that you have it. BS if you ask me ?? ) After that was done an out of province mechanical inspection is required in Alberta. You don't know what a pleasure it is to work on a rust free 10 yr old car. The whole experience was a lot of fun and now I'm a B body LT1 fan + a Monte fan.

Another thing - You would not believe how much cheaper tires are in the US. I made arrangements on my way back home to stop at a Costco. The reason I chose Costco was that warantys are good in Canada if I had a problem. I bought 4- 17" 50 series BFG tires (Stock size) for 2/3 the cost of what they would be here.

Nevada (Vegas) is a good place to buy cars because A) Its a desert and rust is not an issue however be aware of sun damage - B) being an entertainment hub...flights getting there are cheap and theres lots of them.

How many of you guys commonly run into people who refuse to ship to Canada? I try to explain to them that if USPS is used then there is absolutely no difference other than writing down a Canadian address. It can be kind of frustrating because there are often items I would like to bid for on ebay, but they only list US shipping in the ad. I always ask first to avoid issues - many simply do not respond or refuse to ship to Canada for no real reason. I also let them know that I will pay instantly with paypal so there is absolutely no risk for them...

To many Americans we are like Mexico to them. Majority of people are very good though. I only use money orders for payment however mine are drawn on Chase Manhattan in NY (Its called a Bank Draft at the Royal Bank) That way their Bank is more accepting of the item. I also tell them that I am ok if they want to wait until the M/O clears their Bank before shipping.

Found this company recently. New GM parts at close to GMpartsdirect.com pricing but the really good news is that they will ship USPS surface to Canada. When you go to checkout pick the shipping method and they will even give you an immediate USPS quote.http://www.parts4chevys.com/partlocator/index.cfm?siteid=213920

ebay - Don pointed it out to me a few years back and I got it (it was a fair price too IIRC). The only thing I can assume it came out of was a CDN Malibu cop car. No trip odometer, but ads some cool factor